


Shadows and Sundry

by Jacob_FaeWyldes



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Briarwood Arc (Critical Role), But It Fit and I liked It, Campaign 1 (Critical Role), Character Study, I Know This Isn't How It Went, fight me, vox machina - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27761803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacob_FaeWyldes/pseuds/Jacob_FaeWyldes
Summary: The workroom is a kiln, he thinks, stone walls a bulwark against the heat of a forge that burns like a white-hot star in the corner.He can’t feel it. Leaning against the workbench, waiting for lead to turn molten, right in front of the forge, and he can’t feel it.In the corner of his eye, shadows writhe like a beast, squirming from under the door and from the corner of the room. They skitter toward him, hissing away from the light, and pool in his shadow.***Percy De Rolo is a lot of things... Sane might not be one of them.
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Shadows and Sundry

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by ["The List" (critical role fan song) DEMO](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/718546) by Darling_Gypsum. 



> This is a thing... this is a thing that I wrote...
> 
> Enjoy!

The workroom is a kiln, he thinks, stone walls a bulwark against the heat of a forge that burns like a white-hot star in the corner.

He can’t feel it. Leaning against the workbench, waiting for the lead to turn molten, right in front of the forge, and he can’t feel it.

In the corner of his eye, shadows writhe like a beast, squirming from under the door and from the corner of the room. They skitter toward him, hissing away from the light, and pool in his shadow.

He picks up another part to polish and clean.

The shadows snake up his boots, legs, bare chest, and perch bird-like on his shoulders. They chitter excitedly. 

He stands, pulls the metal from the fire, pours, and waits for it to cast.

Five bullets for five names. One blank.

He wonders if it’s waiting for him.

No time for that now.

***

Vex’s worried. Pike’s worried. Vax, Scanlan, Grog, Keyleth… They’re worried.

They saw the bodies hanging from the tree, and now they keep looking at him. He doesn’t know why, he’s been numb since he painted a smile for the first time in… weeks, months, years? How long has it been?

He doesn't think about it. They have to get to, and into, the Citadel. He wonders if the old passages are still there...

***

Cassandra’s alive.

Cassandra’s alive, and he left her.

His sister is alive, he left her, and she doesn’t trust him.

His little sister is alive, he left her, and she doesn’t trust him. The others are worried, and shadows are whispering in his mind.

Lord and Lady Briarwood are sitting in his family's home, and they’ve twisted his little sister’s mind.

The shadows twitter louder.

‘ _Find them, make them suffer._ ’

‘ _I promise you will find your peace._ ’

‘ _Rain on them destruction, unending shock, and awe._ ’

‘ _Remember their atrocities and everything you saw. Together we'll devise your justly earned reprise._ ’

***

“Darling boy,” Lady Briarwood smiles, “I was wondering when you would crawl out from under your little rock.”

Her husband laughs.

He loses control.

Dark laughter echoes in his ears, and he rushes them.

***

There’s a cold, rotted thing beating where his heart was.

“Somthin’s goin’ on with ‘im...”

“That gun is fuckin with him.”

“I’m really worried about him.”

“That smoke makes me nervous.”

“What’s the plan, Percy?”

“Are you alright?”

He smiles. “I will be.”

Liar.

***

“SYLAS! YOUR SOUL IS FORFEIT!”

***

“What will you do now?”

He runs a hand over the barrel of the gun — one blank.

Vex wraps her hands around the List. The revolver looks wrong in her hands.

“Let go,” she whispers.

He doesn't.

“Percy, let go,” she orders.

One blank.

“Love, please let go,” she pleads.

He does.

Vex takes it, walks to the edge, and throws it into the acid.

He stares after it blankly.

Vex wraps strong, warm arms around him, and he sinks into it.

Percy cries and laughs and screams, and it feels like flying.


End file.
